The government is leading the charge to get e-commerce platforms to introduce a ‘Make in India’ filter, by doing so on its own e-procurement portal Government e-marketplace (GeM), a move that it said will boost its Atmanirbhar Bharat and ‘Make in India’ initiatives.
On Tuesday, the government’s e-procurement site GeM made it mandatory for sellers to disclose the ‘Country of Origin’ on the products they list on the platform. It also introduced a provision for sellers to indicate the percentage of local content in each product.
ET had reported on June 19 that the government was planning to make it compulsory for e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart and Amazon to display whether a product was made locally through its upcoming e-commerce policy. The move was said to be in line with curbing Chinese imports, by giving consumers the ability to choose locally made goods.
The shift to categorise ‘Made in India’ products comes soon after a standoff between Indian and Chinese armed forces in Ladakh resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. The fatalities on the Indian side caused an uproar among the public, leading to fervent calls for a boycott of China-made goods.
“With this new feature, now, the Country of Origin as well as the local content percentage are visible in the marketplace for all items. More importantly, the ‘Make in India’ filter has now been enabled on the portal,” a statement from the Ministry of Commerce said.
Government buyers will now be able to choose to buy only products with over 50% local content. Further, sellers will be classified into Class I Local suppliers who sell products with over 50% local content, and Class II Local suppliers, selling products with local content ranging from 20%-50%.
Bids placed by the government for products on GeM will be open only to Class I & Class II suppliers for bids below Rs 200 crore in value, with an ability of the purchaser to give preference to Class I Local Suppliers as well.
There have been several calls from consumers for e-commerce platforms to display the Made in India tag beside product listings. However, no such step has been taken by online retailers, with senior executives telling ET that such a voluntary step might infringe upon seller freedoms.
ET had reported that platforms say they’re meant to be neutral and unless mandated by a government ruling, will not dissuade consumers from buying non-India made products. However, that isn’t stopping Flipkart and Amazon from promoting locally made products and small sellers.
Both firms have run campaigns on promoting local brands and also have sections on their websites and apps for users to discover products sourced and produced locally from artisans and even startups.
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